jerry thornton

Terry Francona: The Mahatma Gandhi of Red Sox Nation

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” --Einstein

Is it possible that for all the acclaim, respect and admiration that have been heaped upon Terry Francona over his Red Sox career he’s actually still underrated?

I bring this up now because I find myself saying, for at least the third season in a row, that we might be witnessing Francona’s finest performance as a manager. And not just because he’s got the Sox knocking on the door of first place, which in and of itself is a minor miracle. But that he’s done so while handling more turmoil, setbacks and chaos than at any other time in his tenure.

The first half of 2010 had all the roster turnover of the 2004 season, the injury pandemic of the playoff-less 2006, and the dissension drama of the infamous Manny Rebellion of 2008.

Back as short a time ago as early May, the Sox were revolting. On the field and off. They weren’t just losing, they were in the midst of a full-on uprising. The Sox clubhouse was 1776 times the Star Wars Rebel Alliance to the power of the Attica prison riots. Mike Lowell was dissatisfied. Tim Wakefield was miserable. Dice-K was sullen. Jacoby Ellsbury was persnickety. Big Papi was cranky. It seemed like most of the roster was unhappy with the way they were being used and they were prepared to hold their breaths until they got what they wanted. Sifting through my mental playlist of cheesy 80’s song lyrics, I’ll say that Francona was sitting on a powder keg and giving off sparks.

And so, naturally, he handled the situation just the way you’d expect him to. He blasted his team in the press, called them a whiney bunch of selfish SOBs who need to quit their PMSing and STFU. He then called a team meeting, reminded them he’s the best manager they could ever wish for, ripped his shirt off and offered to duke it out with any of them, Tyler Durden-style.

Just kidding. He stayed calm, refused to take the cheese on all the controversy and kept the distractions to a minimum so the club could focus on getting back in the pennant race. Just like he always has.

I’ve always contended that the most important role of a head coach/ manager in any sport isn’t the Xs & Os, setting rotations or making out lineup cards. It’s avoiding controversy. There are hundreds of media outlets and thousands of sports columnists like myself looking for the chance to turn every molehill into Mt. Eyjafjallajökull and every glass of spilled milk into the BP oil disaster. And it takes a certain kind of genius to prevent that from happening as Tito has time and time again.

The best any of us have ever seen at eliminating such distractions is Bill Belichick. The Patriots Dynastic Epoch (2001-?) has been fraught with more subplots and drama than a 100 Years War between the Lohans and the Kardashians. Contract holdouts, bad blood, congressional hearings, Spygate, Running Up the Scoregate, Postgame Handshakegate, Terry Glenn. And Belichick has always managed in his brilliance to defuse them all by putting up and Iron Curtain of “We’re just focusing on next Sunday”s and “It is what it is”es. In large part, the Pats dynasty has been built by handling things this way.

Francona’s approach is different, but no less brilliant. I’m sure he gets as sick of listening to millionaires caterwaul about playing time as any of us would. But Tito has a seemingly unlimited ability to stay calm, keep things in house and deal with problems in private. Granted, it can be maddening to a fan base that’s dying to see some good old fashioned Earl Weaver-like player bashing and Lou Piniellaesque buffet flipping. But the last I looked, Weaver went out with parachute pants and Piniella hasn’t won anything since 1990. He might not give you the red meat you want, but Francona’s way works.

And after giving this some considerable thought (as opposed to, say, helping my Irish Rose out around the house or spending time with my kids), it occurred to me that we’ve never seen a coach/manager quite like Tito, ever. We’ve seen some greats. Auerbach, obviously. Belichick of course. Parcells. Doc Rivers. Fairbanks. Bill Fitch. Dick Williams. Harry Sinden.

But to find anyone who’s succeeded with Francona’s passive, non-confrontational style, you’ve got to go outside sports. You’ve got to look at world history. You have to go back to another quiet, unassuming man who’s quiet determination and humble approach changed the world.

Terry Francona is our Gandhi.

With all due respect to the Mahatma, the similarities are striking. Just to point out a few:

Gandhi was widely condemned from his opponents and followers alike.
Francona gets hammered 24 hours a day by WEEI callers.

Gandhi often fasted to cleanse his blood and his soul.
Francona takes blood thinners.

Gandhi was oppressed by a brutal regime for refusing to remove his turban.
Francona was oppressed by Major League baseball for not wearing a uniform jersey under his pullover.

Gandhi believed in elevating the lower classes to the status of equals.
Francona stuck by Dustin Pedroia after a dismal April in his rookie year.

Gandhi’s non-violent confrontations forced the government to capitulate.
Francona resisted the temptation to rip umpire Joe West’s extra chins off his face in the 2004 ALCS and persuaded him to reverse the A Rod Ball-Slap call.

Gandhi brought down an empire and freed a nation.
Terry Francona brought down an Empire and freed a Nation.

All seriousness aside, at this point I’ll say that behind Auerbach and Belichick, Terry Francona is the best coach/manager Boston has ever seen. In the toughest era ever for managing people, at a time when the players have all the power and managers are the goats to be scated the first time something goes wrong, Tito continues to win. And manages to keep the respect of everyone around him in the most demanding sports market in America. And he doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves.

Because for all he accomplished, there’s no way the Mahatma could’ve put up with Manny’s crap for 7½ years.

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